The Jante Law as a concept was created by the Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose

In his novel A fugitive crosses his tracks he identified the Law of Jante as ten rules, of the small town of Jante. A place where nobody is anonymous.

The ten rules state:

1. You’re not to think you are anything special.

2. You’re not to think you are as good as we are.

3. You’re not to think you are smarter than we are.

4. You’re not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.

5. You’re not to think you know more than we do.

6. You’re not to think you are more important than we are.

7. You’re not to think you are good at anything.

8. You’re not to laugh at us.

9. You’re not to think anyone cares about you.

10. You’re not to think you can teach us anything.

In the book, the people who transgress this unwritten ‘law’ are regarded with suspicion and hostility, as it is against the town’s communal desire to preserve harmony, social stability and uniformity. This series of work, tells little tales of Jante law-breakers and upholders.

Richard Denny is a British born Melbourne artist whose one of the forfathers sailed from Livonia to Australia in the end of the 19th Century. His dynamic works employ a layering, mixed media approach. He combines enamel, acrylics, oil and pencil and irregularly shaped pieces of painted cut canvas/linen and paper with detailed regional maps from around the world and fixes them onto paper, wood and old doors and stretched linen. Denny has exhibited in London, Barcelona, Melbourne and Sidney. This summer he was an artist-in-residence at Mark Rothko Centre in Daugavpils. His work is currently also on show at the Latvian Museum of Naive Art.

The exhibition will close on the 5th of October. Kondas Centre is open from Wednesday to Sunday 10 a.m-5.p.m.